Bodyguard
by write4life24
Summary: He was supposed to be her bodyguard. Nothing else...But those damn comebacks are a turn on. NILEY.
1. This Will Be Oh So Fun

Joe and Nick are NOT related in this story.

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><p><em>"Milleeeeeeeyyyy! Pleeeeease get me ice cream!" Demi said. I rolled my eyes.<em>

"_Dem, I just went to the gas station 20 minutes ago to get you chips. Now ice cream? Those people are gonna think I'm some fat ass!" I laughed._

"_I'M PREGNANT! That's a good enough excuse!" she yelled. Oh, lovely mood swings._

"_Ugh, you know I'm gonna kill Joe for getting you pregnant." I grabbed my keys and Demi's wallet. If she wanted the ice cream, she was paying._

"_THANKKKKK YOOOUUUUU!" Wow she was loud._

"_What kind?" You never knew with Demi, it always changed._

"_Chunky Monkey, Red Velevet, and Chocolate Cookie Dough." she grinned. I groaned._

"_Seriously?"_

"_Yep." she popped her p._

"_Ugh, I'll be back in 15." I walked out the door to my car. God, I'm gonna murder Sterling for getting this girl pregnant. She has the worst mood swings I've ever seen._

_I pulled into the Square K gas station and parked my car against a gas pump. Hey, if Demi was buying, why not fill up my tank? That girl owes me. I laughed to myself as I filled up my car, then drove it to the back parking lot, giving the person behind my a chance to fill their tank. I locked my car and went inside the little store._

_I grabbed the ice cream Demi requested and gave the dude Joes card. I was wrong. Demi wasn't paying, Joe was. Oh well. That boy made enough money to fill up my gas tank and buy me and Demi food. I got the card back and walked out of the station with Demis ice cream, some chips, some candy, and a few drinks. Hey, I didn't feel like coming back. This was my third trip tonight. My 10 in the last two weeks. Plus, I'm a girl too. I wanted food._

_I was walking to my car, when I heard a bunch of groans. Figuring it'd be funny to catch two lovesick teenagers in the middle of it, I turned the corner next to the station to find them. But I didn't find what I assumed I was going to. Teenagers, yes. But they weren't lovesick. They were blood sick. Four gang bangers were raping a blonde teen, who couldn't have been older than 18. I hid behind the corner, so I could still watch. I took out my iPhone and recorded it. But then Demi called me._

"_I don't mind spendin' every day,_

_Out on your corner in the pourin' rain._

_Look for the girl with a broken smile,_

_Ask her if she wants to stay a while…"_

_They saw me. They looked up and looked straight at me. I turned and ran to my car, knowing they were behind. I jumped in the front seat and threw the food behind me. I could always buy more if I needed to. I locked my door just as two of them came up and banged on my window. Guess the other two were too busy finishing up that poor girl._

"_Open up bitch!" one yelled. He was wearing a dark green camo hoodie with dark gray jeans, with the hood up of course._

"_C'mon sweetie, we ain't gonna hurt you." he had a black and gray camo hoodie on, with dark blue jeans. They both had nice shoes. How come gang bangers always had nice shoes? _

_I started my car as fast as I could, then sped off. I saw them chase me in my rearview, but they were smart enough to know they couldn't catch me on foot and stopped chasing me after a block._

_I drove around for about twenty more minutes, with Demi calling me atleast twenty times, before I finally went back to my house._

"_WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" here it comes._

"_Demi I-"_

"_I've been worried sick!"_

"_Dem-"_

"_You KNOW a pregnant woman should NOT get stressed out Miley! I do-"_

"_I SAW A GIRL GET RAPED!" I probably said that a little too loud. Demi just gaped at me, so I showed her the 10 second video I got of it. _

_Next thing I know, we're at the police station. After two day sleepless days, they said they got nothing off the tape, but assumed the gang bangers got my license plate or knew my face well enough to have someone go after me. I was scared. They sent me to a different headquarters where'd I'd be assigned an undercover bodyguard who would follow me around, but would pretend like he was someone else._

"And that's how I ended up here." I said to the chief of police down at the out of town headquarters.

"Well Miss Stewart, Chief Williams had sent in a request for you, these guys are known for working fast, so I'm going to assign you one of our best." I smiled politely. I had forced Demi and Joe to go home before I came here. I needed to do this alone. Plus, Demi was pregnant. She needed sleep. And she needed Joe there with her.

"Thank you, Dan." he smiled back. And he asked me to call him Dan.

"Well, he'll meet you here today at 4. Pack light. Few shirts, some pants, underwear. One bag will do. Don't bring your phone, computer, iPod, or anything electronic. Don't tell anyone where your going, who your with, or why. Just leave." I was confused.

"Won't they be worried?"

"We'll take care of it." I shrugged.

"Okay, I'll be back in two hours." I got up to leave.

"Oh and Miss Stewart?" I turned around.

"Yes?" He handed me a dinosaur cell phone. It was one of those flip ones that only has the number keyboard.

"What's this?"

"Your new phone. Untraceable. You may put 2, and only 2, friends numbers in it. You have to call them, they cannot call you. And you can't give them the number from that phone. You'll call them on private only." I nodded and went back to my house.

I looked in my closest and sighed. Only one bag? I picked up a gray duffel bag off the floor from the back and set it on my bed. I put 5 t-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of sweatpants, 1 pair of shorts, sneakers, socks, underwear, and bras in it. Then I got my bathroom and make up essentials. And then I put in two books, my favorite pillow, and my favorite purple fuzzy blanket. I put my Cds, journal, and fuzzy blanket in my purse.

I grabbed my iPhone and transferred Joe and Demis numbers to the crappy dinosaur phone. I turned my iPhone, iPod, and computer all off and unplugged, sitting in a pile in the middle of my bed. I sighed and walked around my house saying goodbye, not knowing when I'll see it next. I locked my door and shoved my keys into my purse. I walked to my car and drove back to the HQ.

"Hello Miss Stewart." Dan smiled as I walked in with my duffle bag and put it down in front of his desk.

"Hi. The lady upfront just told me to come straight back here, I hope that's okay." he laughed slightly.

"Of course it is. I asked her too. Come along, I'd like you too meet your new best friend." I smiled grimly. As Dan and I walked down a hallway, I noticed his features. He looked about 40, with short light brown hair. He was in pretty good shape, which is expected since he's a cop, and had a wedding ring. I smiled. I hope this will all be over eventually so I can focus on making a family of my own.

"Here we are." Dan opened a door for me. I noticed it was another office, much smaller with less decorations. Not many pictures, just a few of a golden retriever, one of a young looking boy sitting in mud, covered in it, smiling up at the camera, and one of a older couple smiling at the camera with then mans arm around the woman. I smiled and walked in farther. Then I noticed someone behind the desk. I looked at Dan and raised my eyebrows.

"Miley this is Nicholas Grey, the best we have here." I smiled and stuck my hand out for Nicholas to shake, but he just glared at Dan.

"It's Nick." he's deep voice came our gruff, almost annoyingly stern. I put my hand down.

"So Nick knows everything…" Dan trailed off talking about what was going to happen. About an hour later, Nick and I were sitting in the front seat of his car, my duffle bag, along with his own, in his trunk. His car had bench seats, which meant even more awkwardness.

"We're gonna drive for about 30 minutes and then we're gonna get some food too keep here in the car. K?" I nodded and he started driving. This was gonna be oh so fun.


	2. Appreciate It Alright?

**Mileys POV**

We had gotten the food a few hours ago. We got some protein bars, some chips, and some Gatorade, among other things. It was all sitting in the trunk. It was about 11 at night by now and I was leaning against the passenger door with my feet propped under my butt. I was leaning the side my head on the back of the seat, listening to Sirius Hits. Beyonces "Love on Top" was playing and I was singing along quietly.

"Could you please stop singing?" he said harshly. I was offended.

"You really think I'm that bad?" he kept his eyes on the road.

"Its distractin' me." I rolled my eyes.

"If I could barely hear myself sing, how the hell could you hear me?" I saw his eyes squint out of anger.

"I just could alright? And this trip'll be a hell of a lot easier if you stop arguin' with everything I say, ight?" he looked at me. But what was funny was that I didn't see any anger in his face. I heard anger in his voice, but I didn't see any on his face.

"I can tell your not really angry." he looked back to the road.

"You can't see anything." I raised my eyebrows.

"I took physcology courses in college and high school. I can see a lot more than you think." I propped my feet up on his lap.

"It's a dumb course you took for credits."

"How did you-" he cut me off.

"My job is too protect you. I had to read up on your past." he swatted my feet away, but I kept them up on his lap anyways.

"What else do you know?"

"You play guitar, you were an honor roll student, you attended NYU, your best friends name is Demi and she is engaged to some dude named Joe, and has been for quite awhile. I assume its because both of them aren't ready. You grew up with 5 older brothers and you put up a damn good fight. You were a cheerleader, basketball player, volleyball, softball, and water polo. And the only girl to ever be in fight club. And you were pretty popular in high school." My eyes were wide open and my jaw was slightly dropped. He looked over at me and smirked slightly.

"Flies'll nest." I closed it.

"I know more, but then I'll have to go into detail about everything you already went through and I don't wanna do that." he said softly. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You mean about my dad..when he used to-"

"Hit you. Yeah I know." I nodded and looked at the windshield.

"My dad did too." I looked at him, surprised. Maybe he was gonna open up to me.

"Really?" Okay that was a stupid question.

"No Miley, I'm lying to make you feel bad." he scoffed and looked back at the road. So much for my chance at him opening up to me.

"I didn't mean it like-" he cut me off again.

"Just go to sleep or something. You had a long day." he said it gruffly, but I could tell he didn't mean it like that. It was something in his voice. So I did what he said, and went to sleep.

**Nicks POV**

God how the hell could I be so stupid? I almost told her my story, which is something no one knew, except Dan but that was because hes my boss. Ugh. I hated myself right now.

I looked at the sleeping beauty next to me. Even the meanest, ugliest soul on earth had to admit she was pretty.

I wasn't gonna let her in. This was a job. I can't let her in. I wouldn't.

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><p><strong>The Next Day..<strong>

**Mileys POV**

I woke up with my favorite pillow behind my head against the window, with my purple blanket over me, and no Nick in the drivers seat. I looked at him in the backseat. He was sleeping. Aw. I saw we were parked behind a small diner. I slid on my flip flops.

"Nick." he moaned and turned towards me, but didn't open his eyes.

"I'm going into the diner." he muttered something and pointed at the glove compartment, before turning around so his back was too me. I opened it and saw his wallet. I took it and got out of the car and walked into the diner. I sat at the counter and looked at the clock.

'_5:08' _I figured it was pretty early since the sun was just barely rising.

"Hey hun can I help ya?" an older woman, probably in her sixties, asked. She was wearing a pale pink diner dress and was leaning against the other side of the counter. I looked at the menu in front of.

"Can I have some chocolate chip pancakes with sausage and bacon, and some hot chocolate?" she smiled and nodded. So what if most of what I got was off the kids menu. I liked crappy kiddy diner food.

A few minutes later she brought it out to me and smiled at me. I smiled at her and dug in. I finished in 10 minutes asked for more. She brought me out some banana bread and more chocolate pancakes.

"So what brings you here so early honey?" she smiled as I ate.

"I wanted chocolate pancakes." I said sheepishly. She laughed and walked over to another customer. I figured I shouldn't tell her about having to go into hiding.

By now it was almost six. I had had three rounds of pancakes plus banana bread, sausage, and bacon. Hey, I was hungry. Get over it. I heard the diner bell ding, meaning someone had come in.

"MILEY!" Nick screamed as he ran toward me. I looked at him confused.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell? I woke up and you weren't in the car and my wallet was gone!" he was yelling, but he was being pretty quite. Whisper yelling. I'm confused.

"Yeah, I told you I was gonna get something to eat and you pointed at your wallet. Then you turned around so I got out and came in here." he looked at me confused.

"Next time your getting out of the car, make sure I actually respond." he said gruffly.

"O…kay.." he sat down next to me. A different waitress came up. She was young, probably still in college. She walked closer than necessary up to Nick.

"Can I help you sir?" Nick looked at her and then at me.

"Coffee. Black." he was still looking at me. She nodded at nothing and walked away.

"Pancakes?" he nodded towards my plate. I blushed.

"I love them. I could eat them every day." Still frowning, he breathed out a laugh and got his coffee from the waitress. He drank a little bit and scowled. He grabbed his wallet from me and threw down thirty bucks and grabbed my wrist. He dragged me out to the car and put me in the passenger seat and slammed the door. He went around to his side and got in. He started the car and got onto the road.

"What the hell?"

"I need real coffee. The shit they had in there was liquid cardboard." I raised my eyebrows.

"Then where are we going?" he didn't answer. He just kept driving for another 10 minutes before pulling into a Starbucks.

"Venti Vanilla Latte.." he looked me confused.

"'Scuse me?"

"That's what I want."

"Your not getting anything." I raised my eyebrows.

"Excuse me?"

"I jut bought you a thirty dollar breakfast. No way in hell am I getting you something from Starbucks." I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Whatever. A nice guy would." He grabbed his wallet and got out of the car.

"Who said I was nice?" he said before he slammed the door and walked into Starbucks. I rolled my eyes. This guy was a douche.

Nick walked back out a few minutes later with a drink carrier, with two drinks in it, and a Starbucks bag. He got in the car and handed me my coffee.

"Thanks." I was confused but I wasn't gonna question him.

"Yeah." he handed me some banana walnut bread and a birthday cake cake pop. I smiled and took them. He took two water bottles and some chocolate bars out of the bag also.

I ate the cake pop first. He was eating a coffee flavored one. I ate the bread and put the small bag into the bigger bad. Nick at some lemon loaf and put the smaller bag in the bigger bag before driving again.

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><p>After about 2 hours of driving, I got bored. Sirius entertained me, but after replaying the Weekend Countdown, Spyder Harrison got annoying. I turned down the radio.<p>

"Lets play a game."

"Let's not." still harsh.

"Please Nick? I'm bored out of my mind here."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have looked for those rapists." I went off.

"You know what! I DIDN'T ASK TO SEE THAT POOR GIRL GET GANG RAPED ALRIGHT?"

"You went looking for trouble. You do it all the time. I know everything about you Miley Ray Stewart." he didn't even seem fazed by my outburst.

"You know nothing about me, you bastard." he instantly pulled the car over. He took his seatbelt off and leaned over. He pinned my arms above me and got into my face.

"No one…no one calls me a bastard. You don't call me anything when I'm trying to protect me. You hear me? You understand? I could let those gang bangers get you and still keep my job if I want, but I'm hear protecting you so stop acting like an ungrateful little girl and appreciate the shit I'm doing for you." he whispered harshly. His voice sound gruff and angry.

"I don't get special privelages?" I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. He made something that sounded like a growl as he tore himself away from me and got out of the car. He went over to a medium sized tree and punched it, really hard. The tree didn't move, but he made a dent.

"Whoa.." he leaned against the tree with his forehead against it. He was breathing hard and heavy. I had a feeling he knew I was watching, but if he did, he didn't care. He kicked it a few times and punched it once more before getting back in the car.

"Nick…" I put my hand on his bulging muscles. He ripped his arm away.

"Don't." he started driving. I just shut up and started reading a book, listening as he turned up Sirius Hits.

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><p><strong>AN.** No Nick is not a werewolf. xD

Hope you liked it. And I don't normally do these note things, b/c most of the time no one reads them and I feel like it ruins the story. But I jsut wanted to say that last chapter I accidently wrote Sterling instead of Joe. I just wanna say that she is engaged to Joe. It was gonna be Sterling and she was gonna meet Joe somehow, but I changed it. So just ignore the Sterling part. I know it was probably confusing.

:)


	3. That Stung

A few hours after the angry tree incident, we pulled into a motel. It was about 2 am and we were both exhausted. We hadn't talked at all except to say "I need to pee" or "I'm hungry" or stuff like that. I was still amazed at what he did, but he didn't scare me.

We got out of his car and grabbed our bags. We walked into the motel and ordered two rooms.

"Sorry, only one room left. Lots of folks seem to be comin' in late tonight." said the teenage girl behind the desk. I silently moaned. Great.

"We can't share a bed." I stated quickly. Nick looked at me, surprised.

"No worries, room's got two beds." she tossed us the key and went back to flipping her magazine. I rolled my eyes and went to pick up my bag, but Nick grabbed it first and walked ahead of me. I shrugged and followed him.

We went up to the seventh floor and got to our room. It was clean, decent for a motel.

"I want the bed by the window." Nick shook his head.

"I gotta stay by the window. 'Case those gangers come up in here." he threw his stuff onto the bed by the window and put my stuff on the bed by the wall.

"We're on the seventh floor, who the hell is gonna-"

"MILEY! Just shut up and shower alright? You smell worse than a skunks fart." I chuckled at his analogy, I think I even saw him smile a little, and went to the bathroom to shower.

After probably an hour, I walked out of the bathroom in a short towel around my body and a towel around my head. I saw Nick laying on his bed watching TV. He looked at me.

"Nice ensemble." I rolled my eyes and bent down to my bag to get my pajamas. In the mirror in front of me, I saw him bite his lip. I smirked, got up, and turned towards him.

"If you want me, just say so." he looked surprised.

"Wha…what?" I smirked and sat down on his bed next to him.

"You think I'm hot. And you want me. I'm giving you a chance Nick. Take it or leave it." I took the towel off my head and let my wet hair flow around my body. I let the towel wrapped around my body fall a little. I watched Nick watch. He bit his lip harder.

I leaned in to kiss him…I felt him lean in also...and right before we touched.

"You should get dressed and go to bed. We have to drive tomorrow at some point." he pulled away and I was…hurt. I honestly just wanted to see if he was actually gonna go for it, and he did. But then he stopped…was I that much of a turn off?

Now, don't think I'm a whore because I'm not. But this guy is seriously gorgeous. And I'm gonna spending the next few weeks with his gorgeousness. Might as well see if I can get something out of it. Besides, he turns me on. Big time.

I got up from his bed, shaking my head, and put on some short shorts and a tank top, with no bra. I threw my wet hair up into a ponytail and laid down in my bed with my fuzzy blanket and favorite pillow. I curled up against the pillow and faced Nick. He looked at me then back to the TV.

"So, tell me about your girlfriend." he raised his eyebrows at the TV.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Well okay then.

"Tell me about your wife then. What's she like?" he sighed.

"I'm single, Miley." I scrunched my eyebrows.

"Then why did you reject me?" he sighed again and looked at me.

"Cuz I can't have a girlfriend or a wife and kids because I'm always traveling looking after people like you." I raised my eyebrows. I think he just said he liked me…

"Don't you ever get lonely?" he shrugged.

"Yeah sometimes, I guess. But theres always a cure for that." Okay, now I was curious.

"What is that?" he smirked at me.

"One night stands." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah? And how about the cure for STDs, STIs, and pregnancy?" sarcasm was dripping through my voice.

"I'm protected." he reached for his wallet and pulled out a whole line of condoms and grinned. I rolled my eyes and turned over.

"What?"

"I'm glad you rejected me."

"Why?" he sounded sort of hurt..

"I don't do one night stands." I heard him mumble something about not being a one night but I just rolled my eyes.

"Good 'cuz I don't date my clients." I scoffed. He was irritating me now. I wanted those gang members to come get me so I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore.

"Good cuz I don't date douche bags." Next thing I know, my hands are pinned above my head and he was looking down on me.

"What did I say about calling me names?" he growled.

"I can call you whatever the hell I want. Freedom of speech asshole."

"Troublemaker."

"Man whore."

It stung. That slap. I felt the sting as his hand connected with my face. I refused to let this asshole see me cry.

"Miley I-"

"Just go to sleep."

"But Miley I-"

"GO!" he got up, defeated, and went back to his bed. I rolled over and started to cry silently.

"Miley, are you crying?" If I wanted to respond, I wouldn't be able to hide my tears. But I if didn't respond, he would know I was crying. It was a lose-lose situation.

"N-no." I sniffled.

"I can hear you crying."

"You just know everything huh?" That was harsh, but he hit me. I was allowed to say that.

"I'm sorry I just-"

"Save it for someone cares Nick."

"Please Miley I-" he sounded sincere, but I wasn't gonna let him off like that.

"Go. To. Sleep." I turned off the light to show I was serious. I rolled over so I was facing the wall and started silently sobbing. I can't believe I wanted to kiss that asshole.


	4. I'm Ready

"Miley I-"

"Don't talk. Just drive."

It had been 2 days. Two days since he slapped me and it still stung. Not my cheek, but me, I stung, emotionally. How could he have done that? I mean, I know I'm probably not his favorite person, but that doesn't mean he has to go and hit me like he did. This guy had issues.

"Miley listen-"

"I don't wanna hear your empty apology."

"I was just gonna say that my grandparents live around here and I was hoping we could stop and see them."

"Oh so now you don't wanna apologize for something you did that was clearly wrong?" he sighed loudly and I rolled my eyes.

"We're stopping there. We can both have our own clean rooms, and nice home cooked food alright?" I shrugged.

"Whatever." I heard him sigh again. Hey, you can't just hit me and then make me forgive you so quickly. I turned up the Sirius, which was now set on the 20 on 20s channel.

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><p>We drove for about 3 more hours before turning onto a dirt road. We drove up to a large white farmhouse. Nick shut off the car and turned to me.<p>

"Please don't mention anything about-"

"Don't worry. I won't, Don't want your grandparents thinking your some kind of monster now would we?" still really cold.

"Miley I'm really-"

"Sorry. I've heard those words before and they mean less to you than I do. Lets just go." he sighed and got out. I went to open my door but he opened it first. He shut it once I got out and went to the trunk and grabbed the bags. I went to get mine from him but he softly pulled away and started walking up to the front. I followed in step with my fuzzy blanket wrapped around me. He knocked on the door and a few seconds later an older woman, probably in her mid-70s, answered the door. She was wearing a blue sweater with a horse on it and gray sweatpants. Her shoulder length gray hair stuck to her hear and her dark blue glasses sat on a chain around her neck.

"Nicholas dear!" she kissed his cheek and he smiled, first time I'd seen him smile since we met.

"Hey Nana." he kissed her cheek and put the bags down to hug her. When she put her head on his shoulder, she looked at me and pulled away.

"Oh I see you finally got yourself a girlfriend!" Nick chuckled and looked back at me quickly.

"Shes not my girlfriend. Just a client." his grandmothers face fell a little, but then brightened back up.

"Hello, I'm Genie." she sent me a warm smile and stuck her hand out for me to shake. I gladly accepted it and smiled back.

"I'm Miley." she smiled approvingly.

"Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." I blushed.

"Nana, we haven't slept in real beds for almost a week, can we crash here tonight?" You could hear the exhaustion in his voice. Hey, motel beds and car seats aren't that comfy. Genie smiled.

"Nickypoo your always welcome here! Come in, come in!" I snickered quietly as she opened the door wider and waver her hand for us to enter. Nick looked back at me a glared at me. I just gave him that "you know what you did so you can't yell at me" look. He sighed, defeated, and turned back around, grabbed the bags, and walked in, me following.

"I've got to go feed Richard, but you know where the rooms are." Nick nodded. Who's Richard?

He led me upstairs and showed me my room, which was down a narrow hallway. He opened the door showing me a pale pink, pale yellow, and white room. It was decently sized with old style furniture. It was extremely elegant and classy, like something you would see in an older persons home, but it had a little bit of a modern twist with the flat screen and the art on the wall. I smiled.

"Thanks." I said sort of harshly…I tried to take my bag from him, but he walked up to the bed and set it down, just to walk back to me.

"Bathrooms through there," he muttered, pointing to a door on our right, "and my rooms across the hall." I nodded. Nick looked hopefully at me, like a lost puppy who finally thought he found his owner, and I just brushed right past him to my bag. Nick sighed and walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, I laid down on my bed and cried. I hadn't been alone since the trip begun and now I could finally cry my guts out alone and as loud as I wanted.

* * *

><p>I don't know how long I had been crying but I guess I had fallen asleep because next thing I know, someone is shaking my shoulder.<p>

"Miley, wake up…" Nick whispered. I opened my eyes and quickly jerked away from him to the other side of the bed. He sighed.

"Dinners ready…" I nodded but he didn't get up.

"Please, can we talk? I hate the fact that your scared of me, you shouldn't be." I scoffed and shook my head as tears threatened to fall again.

"You've been crying and your about to start crying again. Please let me make it better Miley." he reached out to touch my hand but I pulled it back quickly. He looked down, sad, and sighed.

"Let me know when you want to listen, because I have a lot to say." he said desperately as I got up from my bed and turned to go into my bathroom.

"Please Miley, you don't know what I'm going to say and I'd really like to say it to you." I slammed the bathroom door and stayed in until I heard the bedroom door close. I sighed and wiped away potential tears, then looked in the mirror and sighed.

I went back into my room and put on a little make up to hide my puffy face. I took of my day old clothes and threw on a loose, red boyfriend hoodie and a pair of black skinny sweats with gray argyle socks. I ran a brush through my hair and went downstairs. I saw Genie and Nick sitting at the table waiting. I smiled politely.

"You didn't have to wait for me." I sat down at the small table made for four.

"Oh but Nick insisted. He always was a charmer." I held back a laugh. Yeah he's a charmer, if charmer meant abusive bastard.

"Yeah what a…charmer." Genie smiled.

"So he said you made us a home cooked meal…" Genie nodded, got up, and walked into the kitchen. She brought out a huge glass tub of homemade chicken noodle casserole. I gasped.

"Yes!" Genie laughed and nodded at Nick, who was smiling like an idiot.

"He said it was your fav, and called ahead to tell me to make it." I raised my eyebrows and looked at Nick.

"How did you-"

"File." I shaped my mouth into an "o" and nodded, looking down.

Genie gave me and Nick both huge servings and gave herself a normal sized serving. I dug in while Nick just sort of picked at his and Genie watched with a proud smile. I looked up at her.

"Fwat?" I said smiling with my mouth full of casserole.

"Nick has told me so much about you, I'm so shocked your even-"

"Nana…" Nick had a warning tone, pleading her not to say whatever it is she was going to say.

"I'm sorry Nicholas, it's just-"

"Nothing. It's just nothing." Genie sighed and looked at her grandson then back at me, then at both of us.

"I'm gonna go watch ER with Richard. Feel free to have as much as you'd like." I smiled and kept eating. She made a mean casserole. I looked at Nick whose brown orbs were burning a hole in me. I raised my eyebrows, questioning him.

"You look cute when you stuff your face." That was surprising. I swallowed my casserole.

"Thanks." he smiled at me, a small smile but it was still a smile. About 15 minutes, and two servings later, I turned to Nick.

"Nick?" his head snapped up. That was the first time I had talked to him and not responded to him.

"Yea?" he looked eager to know what I was going to say.

"I'm ready to listen."


	5. It Wasn't Your Fault

**Mileys POV**

Nick let out a sigh of relief and got up from the table. He motioned for me to follow him. I grabbed my Gatorade bottle and followed Nick up the stairs to his room. He opened the door to show his room.

'_No doubt his room from when he was younger.'_ I thought. The room screamed Nick.

The walls were painted navy blue and there was a king sized bed in the middle of the room. It had metal head and footboards. The light blue sheets and yellow, red, orange, and blue striped comforter was messy and crooked. There was a light wood nightstand next to the bed that had a desk lamp and a picture of Nick, with his arms around his grandparents, and a young boy sitting in mud with a mud covered golden retriever next to him. They were all smiling at the camera. There was a dark wood desk against the far wall right under a window. It had a desk lamp and a flat screen Pear Mac desktop computer. The navy blue rolling desk chair had Nicks duffel resting on it. The gray closest was open and full of clothes. Surprisingly neat. There was a flat screen television hanging above the closest. There was a tall metal bookshelf next to the desk. It held a printer, some binders, a picture of Nick with a young boy, and a picture of a golden retriever with the same young boy. There was a Yamaha keyboard set up in the corner with another navy blue rolling chair sitting in front of it. Next to it was a black acoustic guitar sitting on a stand. Not a speck of dust on it. It looked like it was cleaned every day, it shined so much. There were Elvis Costello, Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Drake posters all over the room. There was one thing in the room that stood out to her. It was a caramel colored teddy bear, sitting neatly on the bed. It looked old, worn, and tattered. I didn't know why a twenty-five year old man would have a teddy bear in his room.

"_Maybe from when he was little."_ I pondered the thought.

The overhead fan was on. Nick walked over and sat on the bed, leaning against the the headboard. I followed and sat against the footboard, with my knees pulled up to my chest.

"I don't really know where to begin…" He started.

"Just start at the beginning." I whispered softly. He nodded.

"Well, I was four. I was locked in a closet not much bigger than that one-" he pointed to the gray closest across from them, "-because my parents were buying heroine from their dealer and didn't want me to interfere."

"They kept me locked in there most of the day. They didn't want me to get in the way while they shot up and got high. Figured lockin' me in the closest would make me disappear forever."

"Nick I-" he cut me off.

"Let me finish." I nodded.

"I slept in that closest most nights. The only thing I had was a teddy bear named Ted." He leaned back against the pillows and leaned his head against the wall. He put the teddy bear in his lap and stared at for a little before continuing.

"My mom got it for me, before she became a junkie. I had it in the crib with me." He continued looking down at the teddy bear.

"What made her become a-" He cut me off again.

"She relapsed. When my dad came back in the picture." I put my hand on his leg.

"When my mom found out she was pregnant with me, she got clean. She had wanted to be a mother her whole life, and it didn't mater that I was a crack baby, she wanted me. She didn't have me too young, twenty-two. She never went to college. But once that little stick read positive, she cleaned up her act. She went to meetings, rehab, everything she could. She had been sober almost her whole pregnancy. When she had me, she was so happy. There were pictures and videos of her crying and holding me." A tear slid down his cheek.

'_I wonder why there's none in his room…"_ I thought. I looked around again to see if I missed one, but I didn't.

"I burned them all." I nodded.

"She took care of me really well. Not going to college, she didn't really have a job choice. She worked three jobs insanely well to make ends meet. She was a night manager at a drugstore, she waited tables, and she was an elderly womans aid on weekends. Mrs. Oliver. My mom had met Mrs. Oliver at her drugstore job. She used to come in all the time for her prescriptions and would say hi to me and give me candy. She and my mom would talk and then she offered her the job of cleaning up after her, making sure all her meals were delivered, organizing her medication, that sort of thing. Mrs. Oliver would let me play with the old trucks she had from when her grandsons were little. She would even watch me during the day. And she left my mom a good chunk of money in her will."

One thing I noticed about Nick, was that he really went into detail.

"Well one day when I was three, my dad came around. He had gotten early parole, he went to jail for 5 years for selling crack under the table at his pizza slinging job, but got out two years early. He said he wanted to see his son, so my mom let him come by the restaurant during a dead shift. They ate and he played with me, even brought me some toys and candy. He asked my mom out for an actual date, without me. They went out that Friday night and I stayed with Mrs. Oliver. My mom didn't pick me up until the next morning, and she was hungover. She had gone back to shooting heroine."

I could feel myself tearing up from the story. Nick was trying his hardest not to cry.

"Nick, you don't need to finish if you don't want to. I understand completely." Nick shook his head.

"I started, may as well finish." I nodded slowly.

"From then on, it was just drugs and beatings for my parents. My mom sold the two bedroom loft she had worked so hard to get and moved in with my dad at his crappy one bedroom shithole. They shot up in the bedroom and left me in the living room to play with broken toys. When my dad was high, he would slap me around, kick me, punch me, burn me, beat me. Called me names. Bastard, fag. Every name in the book." Nick lifted up his shirt to reveal cigarette burns all over his chest and biceps. I ran my fingers along them softly, waiting for Nick to swat my hand away, but he never did.

"There's more on my legs and back. Dad broke a few ribs once, broke my nose. Gave me a concussion. They all healed on their own."

I started silently letting my tears fall.

"Don't cry." He hadn't even looked at me to know I was crying. I wiped my eyes and waiting for him to continue.

"When their drug dealer came over, the locked me in the closest and put the couch up against it. Sometimes they forgot I was in there and wouldn't get me for days. I would eat leftover pizza crusts or chip crumbs. The drugs always smelled bad so I wouldn't go near them. It went on for years. Mrs. Oliver had passed away sometime when I was seven and she had left my room twenty thousand dollars. All of it went to drugs." I gasped.

"My mom started dealing with that money. My parents became two of the most known drug dealers in Boston. Luckily, Mrs. Oliver had convinced my mom to enroll me in school before she died. I went to public school every day and on the weekends, I would go to a church near my school and just watch the services. It didn't matter that it was the same service every 2 or 3 hours, it kept me away from my drug dealing parents."

I rubbed his knee a little more, before slowly moving closer. I leaned my side on the other pillows and continued watching him. He was playing with Teds arms so he wouldn't have to look up at me. He chuckled out a sad laugh.

"You know, the priest would always ask me why I was there all the time." He mimicked a soft, caring voice. "Is there wrong at home or at school? Are you in trouble son? Do you need help? Are you hungry? Tired?" he went back to his normal voice. "And for some reason, I always said no. I just said loved the services and was interested in them. I had a chance to get out, but I didn't."

I rubbed his arm slowly. "You weren't ready to leave your parents. You were only seven, you didn't know that what they were doing was wrong, just that they didn't pay attention to you. You never got to see how real parents act so you had nothing to compare it too. As far as you know, you were living a normal life." He nodded slowly.

"I lived that life until I was twelve. By then my parents had made money bags from their deals and we moved into a really nice loft. It overlooked the city and had major security, dead bolts, electronic locks, combo locks, the whole ordeal. I had a big room but there wasn't much in it. A bed, a table desk, and a lamp. But Ted always sat on my bed, watching over everything like Woody and Buzz." I smiled sadly at his analogy.

"I still went to the church every weekend, my parents didn't even notice I was gone. I had taken up stealing." He looked down. He felt guilty for it. I rubbed his shoulder.

"I stole food, school stuff, clothes, money. Stuff I needed. My parents didn't buy it for me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, because of all those weekends at church, but I didn't know what else to do. When I was thirteen, I got caught lifting a pair of sneakers. The store called the cops, the cops called my parents. When my parents didn't show, they decided to drop me off. Store didn't press charges, thought it was the first time I took stuff from them. It wasn't. When we got to the loft, the cops noticed all the locks on the door and thought I was some kind of kidnapped, molested kid. When my dad opened the door, higher than a kite, they arrested him and my mom and put me in a home."

He turned his head and looked at me for the first time. I put my hand on his cheek and caressed it softly. He put his hand over mine and led it softly into his lap and rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I didn't stay in the home too long, maybe 2 weeks. My mom and dad got life with no parole for pushing over seventeen million in heroine and crack, murder, carrying and possessing unregistered firearms, having no license to possess registered weapons, and endangering the life of a minor. So since I had nowhere to go, court contacted my nana and she flew across the country too come get me. She had moved out here and her and Papa retired. They wanted to live in a sunny state and they had always loved California. He and my mom had kept in touch for awhile, but once my mom went back to dealing, she stopped calling."

"My nana brought me out and here and raised me ever since. This was my bedroom. All I brought with me was Ted, the teddy bear my real mom gave me. Not the druggy mom. The mom that loved me, and cared about me." He didn't continue, so I assumed her was probably finished.

"Nick I don't know what to say…" he chuckled.

"What are you supposed to say? 'Hey sorry your mom was a drug dealer and your dad was abusive, but at least your hot right?'"

"No." he shook his head.

"You don't need to say anything."

"Nick, I think it's so amazing how you turned out. Most kids with druggy parents become druggies themselves. You turned out to be an amazing man, with an amazing career and that's unbelievable." Nick laughed a cold laugh.

"An amazing job? I spend my days chasing after gang bangers, murderers, and rapists." I couldn't believe what he was saying. I sat up and looked him straight in the eyes.

"You spend your days protecting dumb fucks like me Nick. People who get into trouble and don't know what to do and lean on other people to help them out. Whether you know it or not, you've made a career out of something you spent your entire life doing. You spent your whole childhood protecting yourself and now you're protecting other people! Nick, those people took your childhood away. They didn't teach you how to ride a bike or watch Scooby Doo with you or buy you new toys and games! You never got to ride a bike around the neighborhood with your friends and your mom never read you bed time stories! You never had someone comforting you when you had a bad dream. You didn't have a parent to cuddle up to when it thunderstormed or a parent to make you hot chocolate and warm popcorn and watch movies with you in the winter. No mom to make a snowman with, no dad to build a fort with. They took away the best part of your life. The part where you're supposed to be carefree and funwilling and you don't have to think about anything or worry about anything because you're too young to understand! The part where you can laugh and have fun and get cuts and bruises from playing too much in the backyard. You didn't have anyone protecting you from bad dreams because you were living a bad dream and that was so unfair to you. You never got a childhood." Nick looked shocked. He looked down at Ted.

"Maybe if I hadn't been so out of contro-" I cut him off.

"This is NOT your fault. It was NEVER your fault. Your parents chose to make your life a living hell for their own personally gain. They didn't care if they traumatized their only son or if they hurt him or scared him. All they cared about was shooting up and making money!"

"It wasn't my moms fault, my dad brought her back in."

"Nick I agree with you, but my point is that she never stopped it. Your dad is a bastard. A complete jackass. But your mom because no better when she didn't protect you from your dad. If your dad had never come back into your life, maybe things would have happened differently. But how do you know she wouldn't have gone back to drugs on her own?"

"How do you know she would have?"

"I don't."

"Exactly."

"Nick, the way you talked about your mom was amazing. She took amazing care of you those first few years. Your dad ruined her. I can't tell you for sure whether or not she would've gone back on her own, but the point is is that she did go back. With your fathers help. I blame him for making your childhood hell and ruining your mother, but I also blame your mother for not stopping when she went back. Not realizing what she was doing. Forgetting you. It's a disease Nick and like many others, there's a cure. Your mother could've stopped, could've gotten more help. She could've used Mrs. Olivers will money to go to rehab and kick your dad out. She used it on drugs. I blame her for making your childhood hell, but I give her credit for getting clean before you were born. If she did it once, she could've done it a second time."

Nick was silent.

"I don't blame you for anything. None of it was your fault." He was still silent.

"You were just a kid, you couldn't do anything. You never saw any other families, so how were you supposed to know that what was going on wasn't a real family?" Nick nodded.

"It wasn't your fault. It still isn't."

"My dad always said it was. He said it was my fault that he lost his job, that my mom lost her jobs. It was my fault they ran out of drugs and beer because I made them do it. I made them shoot up and drink because I was such a handful." I looked at Nick, completely shocked.

"How were they supposed to know whether or not you were a handful? THEY NEVER TOOK CARE OF YOU! It was their fault they ran out of heroine and beer and maybe if they weren't junkies, they wouldn't have lost their jobs!" Nick was silent again, probably thinking about everything being said.

"They had an amazing son. It's their loss, they don't deserve to have such an incredible person in their lives." Nick looked up at me. I looked straight into his eyes.

"You're stronger than anyone. To be able to go through that and end up this amazing guy."

All was silent, before Nick started leaning in. I felt myself lean in too. I could feel his breath on my face. I closed my eyes, ready to kiss him.

"Nicholas!"

Nick and I jumped apart at the sound of his Nanas voice, coming from outside his bedroom door.

"Come on in Nana!" he yelled.

"Nicholas would you like some chocolate cherry trifle? I tried to offer some to Miley, but she didn't answer her door. I guess she's probably sleepin- Oh Miley, hi." Genie walked into Nicks room holding two small plates with the dessert on them.

"Yes nana, I would love some." He smiled sheepishly and took the plate with the bigger slice on it and laid back in the position he had previously been in.

"Miley?" she held out the plate to me. I smiled and took it from her.

"Thank you." Genie smiled.

"You two kids have fun. Richard and I are going to bed." Nick set the plate down on his nightstand and got up. He walked over to Genie and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks so much nana. I missed your cooking and baking." She laughed and ruffled Nicks hair, even though he was noticeably taller.

"Anything for my boy." She smiled at me before walking out.

It was pretty silent while Nick and I ate. Her chocolate cherry trifle was the best one I had ever tasted.

Once we were done, Nick stacked the plates on his bedside table and leaned back against the wall again. I rolled over to face him.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" I said softly. Nick pondered the thought for awhile.

"Yes."

"What is it?" I was hoping he'd say something about the almost kiss.

"You're not a complete dumb fuck." He looked down at me and smirked. I laughed and shoved him playfully.

We both laid there in comfortable silence. Eventually Nick slouched down so his head was on a pillow and after awhile, I could hear his quiet snoring. I opened my eyes and smiled at the sight of him cuddling the teddy bear with one hand. I moved closer and leaned my head on his shoulder. I pulled the comforter over our bodies before falling asleep against him.


End file.
